Focus Lessons:

Metacognition
Schema
Inferring
Visualizing
Questioning
Determining Importance
Synthesizing

Overview of the book:


Website Resources:

Comprehension Resources

COMPREHENSION CONNECTIONS RESOURCES Great Site for a list of lessons and explanations of each strategy

(Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page because there are tons of links for printable pages for each of the strategies listed above.): Strategies for Reading Comprehension


Metacognition:

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A video that shares the research behind metacognition: (GREAT POINTS: Strategies impact students when explicitly taught, practiced and involves collaboration with others which moves toward independence.)

A 6th grade classroom's take on metacognition!

Schema:

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(From "Inside Angela's 4th Grade Classroom) "First Comes Schema Then Comes Inferring: I like the "formula" of inferring created by Stephanie Harvey. She states that inferring= schema + evidence. Using this formula, we introduced the concept of schema before delving into inferring. Using the book, The Quiet Place, we read it without the use of illustrations. From there, we selected the images that were strongest in our minds and drew it on paper. Retyping a few passages, we then posted our drawings next to it and discussed why our mental images were so different from each other."

Inferring:

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(FROM The Reading Resource.net strategies for reading comprehension-see link at top of page)
Authors do not always provide complete descriptions of, or explicit information about a topic, setting, character, or event. However, they often provide clues that readers can use to “read between the lines”—by making inferences that combine information in the text with their schema.
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Inference ChartThis old discolored t-shirt (with many holes and paint stains) is a great way to help students infer and support with evidence. The question, "Who Wears this Shirt?" is posed at the beginning of the lesson. Using the template from above, I write my students' responses under "Inference". Then I link their inferences with all of the evidence with arrows. For example, one student said the person must have a lot of wild animals in their home (inference) because there are so many holes all over it (evidence). This activity can be done with many things you'd find in your home!
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Inference Resources for pages above: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4DUnGH3T9daMTk0ODY3ZTEtNmZiYi00MjYwLWE4YzMtZDk0OTZjZDk0NTgw/edit?pli=1
Website with activity directions: http://theinspiredapple.blogspot.com/2012/01/whats-in-my-teachers-bag-making.html

Visualizing:

  • Mental pictures are the cinema unfolding in your mind that make reading three-dimensional.
  • Visualization helps readers engage with text in ways that make it personal and memorable.
  • Readers adapt their images as they continue to read.

Comic Strip Website Creator: where students visualize what is happening in a story, and create the comic strip.


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Questioning:

This strategy involves readers asking themselves questions throughout the reading of text. The ability of readers to ask themselves relevant questions as they read is especially valuable in helping them to integrate information, identify main ideas, and summarize information. Asking the right questions allows good readers to focus on the most important information in a text.

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Determining Importance:

Determining importance has to do with knowing why you’re reading and then decisions about what information or ideas are most critical to understanding the overall meaning of the piece.
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Synthesizing:

Synthesizing is the process of ordering, recalling, retelling, and recreating into a coherent whole the information with which our minds are bombarded everyday. Synthesizing is closely linked to evaluating. Basically, as we identify what’s important, we interweave our thoughts to form a comprehensive perspective to make the whole greater than just the sum of the parts.

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